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Pewter Report’s Scott Reynolds answers your questions from the @PewterReport Twitter account this week in the Bucs Mailbag. Submit your question to the Bucs Mailbag each week via Twitter using the hashtag #PRMailbag.  Here are the Bucs questions we chose to answer for this week’s edition.

QUESTION: Can we take that article down about Todd Bowles or you all still warming up to him? Pull up the stats since Todd Bowles joined Tampa Bay in 2019 vs. Sean Peyton. Not good. Out-coached again. Payton is playing checkers – not chess.

Bucs HC Todd Bowles and Broncos HC Sean Payton – Photo by: USA Today

ANSWER: You are exactly right. Sean Payton, who was the Saints head coach for 15 from 2006-20, has absolutely out-coached Todd Bowles. I should have taken that into consideration even more when doing my preview and predictions for Sunday’s Bucs vs. Broncos game, which Denver won easily, 26-7. But Payton often had Drew Brees as his starter for those matchups against Bowles – not a rookie quarterback in Bo Nix. I looked too much at what Nix had done the previous two weeks with his 30% completion percentage on throws longer than 30 yards and four interceptions and expected those struggles to continue against a Bucs defense that played so aggressively in Detroit in Week 2.

So what did Payton do to start the game? He broke tendency and had Nix challenge the Bucs downfield and outside with a 22-yard throw to Courtland Sutton against Jamel Dean and a 31-yard pass to Josh Reynolds versus Zyon McCollum. That got Nix some early confidence and into rhythm, and put the Tampa Bay defense back on its heels at the start of the game.

The Bucs didn’t have any answers defensively. Nix completed 69% of his passes and he didn’t turn the ball over. He wasn’t sacked, escaped pressure with ease and was only hit twice all game – by rookie edge rusher Chris Braswell. It was a total failure by Bowles and his players, who only forced one turnover and allowed six scoring drives by the rookie QB.

Payton is Bowles’ bully – and his kryptonite. He had no answers for what Denver’s offense was doing early on, and once the Broncos got the lead, they were able to run the ball at will, which is very concerning considering Saquon Barkley and the Eagles come to town next week. Denver struggled to run the ball in the first two weeks of the season, but finished with 136 yards on 28 carries (4.9 avg.), including 47 yards and a touchdown run by Nix.

As good as Bowles coached against the Lions in Week 2 – and I wrote about that in Friday’s SR’s Fab 5: Admit It, You’re Warming Up To Todd Bowles – it all came undone in a horrible, inexcusable loss to the Broncos in Week 3. Terribly ineffective game plan and disappointing results. Anyone who was warming up to Bowles is understandably cooling off right now.

QUESTION: How badly were the Bucs exposed in the loss?

Bucs DT Logan Hall – Photo by: Cliff Welch P/R

ANSWER: Pretty badly all the way around. Tampa Bay head coach Todd Bowles did not sugarcoat when he said the Bucs were out-coached, out-played and out-hit. That was pretty evident. The Bucs lacked intensity and the previously winless Broncos brought plenty of it from Denver. Intensity and execution trump talent every time.

I predicted 10 wins for this talented Bucs team this year for a reason. They are a good team, not a great team. Great teams win 12 or more games in a season. Great teams don’t let inferior teams bully them the way the Broncos did on both sides of the ball on Sunday. Tampa Bay may wind up being a great team later this year, but the players have to grow and develop into that. They’re not there yet, and that’s clear for everyone to see.

Tampa Bay’s interior defensive line looked like a bunch of JAGs (just a guy) without Vita Vea and Calijah Kancey. The Bucs don’t have very good defensive line depth and this needs to be addressed in the offseason. The Broncos’ interior offensive line is average at best and totally dominated the Bucs’ interior.

The lack of a fiery leader is also apparent. The Bucs could’ve used right tackle Luke Goedeke’s tone-setting, bullying ways in pass protection and in the ground game. On defense, there was no fire-starter. Not one particular badass pass rusher or defensive back that could make a game-changing, momentum-swinging play. Everyone was kind of standing around waiting for someone else to make a play, and no one really did.

QUESTION: How the heck is Mike Evans getting three targets?! He’s the best offensive player and Liam Coen seems to not want to get him the ball. It makes no sense.

Bucs WR Mike Evans – Photo by: USA Today

ANSWER: New offensive coordinator Liam Coen came to Tampa Bay with the slogan: players over plays. That means when it’s crunch time, feed your star players. That didn’t happen last week in a 20-16 win with Evans catching only three passes for 42 yards, and it certainly didn’t happen on Sunday versus the Broncos with Evans only being targeted three times – twice in the first half and once in the second half.

That is inexcusable, especially since Evans is the engine that runs Tampa Bay’s offense. Not to mention the fact that Evans just signed a two-year deal worth $41 million in the offseason. Evans got paid, now he has to deliver – but he’s at the mercy of Coen and quarterback Baker Mayfield, who needs to get the Bucs’ No. 1 playmaker the ball more often.

“[Patrick Surtain II] played well, there’s just a few things there for me,” Mayfield said. “I still have to trust Mike – like I mentioned earlier in the week. We just have to do a better job at getting the ball in his hands. Offensively, he’s one of our best players, so (I) have to do a good job of trusting him to win these matchups and go from there.”

Mike Evans’ 2024 Production – Weeks 1-3

Week 1: 5 catches (6 targets), 61 yards, 2 TDs
Week 2: 3 catches (6 targets), 42 yards
Week 3: 2 catches (3 targets), 17 yards
Total: 10 catches (15 targets), 120 yards (12.0 avg.), 2 TDs

Evans is on pace for just 56 catches for 680 yards and 11 touchdowns this season. The 11 touchdowns is certainly an acceptable number. But for a star receiver who set an NFL record with 10 straight 1,000-yard receiving seasons to begin his career, being on pace to fall 320 yards short of that is unacceptable.

Through the first three games last year, Evans had 17 catches on 28 targets for 297 yards (17.5 avg.) and three touchdowns. Tampa Bay also had a 2-1 record at that juncture. It’s time to feed Mike Evans.

QUESTION: At what point does Jason Licht need to just flood the defensive line like he did with the secondary back in 2018 and 2019? We are going on Year 3 with no consistent pressure from the edge rushers or defensive tackles outside of Calijah Kancey, and he’s been injured.

Bucs DTs Vita Vea, Calijah Kancey and Logan Hall – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

ANSWER: Well, Bucs general manager Jason Licht has spent plenty of draft capital on the defensive line in recent years. In 2018, he spent a first-round pick on Vita Vea, and then drafted another defensive tackle, Logan Hall, with the team’s top pick in 2022 at the top of the second round. With Hall not living up to his potential early on, Licht spent another first-round pick on a defensive tackle in Calijah Kancey the very next year.

That’s three top picks in the span of six years. That’s half of Tampa Bay’s first-round picks going toward defensive tackles during that time frame, so it hasn’t been for a lack of effort.

Licht also traded for edge rusher Jason Pierre-Paul in 2018 and signed outside linebacker Shaq Barrett in 2019. Both helped the Bucs win Super Bowl LV and teamed up with Vea to guide the team to a franchise-record 13 wins in 2021. Licht drafted outside linebacker Joe Tryon-Shoyinka in the first round in 2021 with an eye on replacing Pierre-Paul. Then he drafted Yaya Diaby in the third round in 2023 to replace an aging Barrett. This year, he spent a second-round pick on Chris Braswell with an eye on replacing the underachieving Tryon-Shoyinka, who is a free agent in 2025 and may not be back.

So that’s three premium picks – a first-rounder, a second-rounder and a third-rounder – in three of the last four drafts. So since 2018, Licht has drafted a combination of six defensive linemen – three tackles and three edge rushers. He would’ve drafted defensive tackle Johnny Newton from Illinois this year in the first round if Graham Barton wasn’t on the board. But Tampa Bay needed to upgrade its offensive line and that was the priority.

The Bucs also liked Clemson defensive tackle Ruke Orhorhoro, but the Falcons drafted him in the second round. Expect Licht and the Bucs to continue to draft defensive tackles and outside linebackers until they hit on a few more guys to make up for the misses on JTS and Hall, who are nowhere close to being great players.

QUESTION: Are there any bright spots in Sunday’s ugly loss to the Broncos? Any hope moving forward?

Bucs RB Bucky Irving – Photo by: USA Today

ANSWER: Just a few. Bucky Irving averaging 7.8 yards per carry was certainly a bright spot. He needs to start and get more carries, as I pointed out in my 2-Point Conversion column after the game. Tampa Bay also came out of Sunday’s 27-6 loss relatively unscathed without any new injuries that I know of. The only thing bruised on Sunday was the Bucs’ ego.

The Bucs lost to an AFC foe, so this one won’t hurt when it comes to NFC playoff contention or divisional postseason seeding. If Tampa Bay had to lose one of its first three games, losing to Denver will be more palatable in the long run than to losing to an NFC team like Washington or Detroit.

I also like the fact that the Bucs weren’t able to claw back into the game and make it close. I’m glad that this young team has very little to feel good about and that there wasn’t a garbage time score or two to put lipstick on this pig and dress it up. The Bucs need to feel the sting of getting their asses kicked on offense and defense for 60 minutes and react accordingly.

The Bucs were embarrassed by the Broncos and they need to let that embarrassment set in and linger this week. If they don’t, they’ll lose two straight at home with the Eagles coming to town this Sunday.